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Tim Donahue: By the Numbers - The Homestretch<br><br>Time for another installment of the By The Numbers series? Indiana has a<br>dirty dozen games left. It’s April, and the playoff race is in full swing, so<br>let’s look at the big numbers.

31-21

After the win in Washington, Chris Denari mentioned something I had not<br>realized – the 33rd win of the season for the Pacers guaranteed that Indy<br>would be .500 or better for the first time since 2006. Good on them.

As I mentioned at the All Star break, the season has been a little uneven.<br>Indy is only 17-15 after a 16-6 start, but to be anything less than thrilled<br>with where the Pacers stand right now is more indicative of wildly<br>inappropriate expectations than any shortfall by the Pacers.

Most impressive, the Pacers are 16-14 on the road. They are one game<br>away from reaching coach Frank Vogel’s goal of a winning record away<br>from home. To give you an idea of how big of a deal that is, the NBA<br>has averaged fewer than 8 winning road teams per season over the last<br>12 years. The Pacers’ road record is sixth best in the league, and one of<br>only seven winning road records in the league this year.

9th, 8th

As it stands right now, the Pacers in are in the top ten in both Defensive<br>(9th) and Offensive (8th) efficiency. Should Vogel’s squad finish the<br>season this way, it will be the first time since 2004 that the Pacers have<br>accomplished such a feat.

To further understand how impressive this would be, it should be noted<br>that this would be only the fourth time Indiana has been in the top ten at<br>both ends in their 37-year NBA history. Besides 2004, they also did it in<br>1995 and 1998. In all three of those seasons, the Pacers made it to the<br>Eastern Conference Finals. That 1998 team, in my opinion, was the best<br>NBA Pacer team ever.

.579, .362

Those two numbers represent the Pacers’ shooting at the rim and from<br>16-23 feet according to Hoopdata. This is a mixed bag.

The .579 at the rim is an improvement from the last time we spoke (.556),<br>and Indiana is no longer dead last in the Association. They have clawed<br>their way past New Jersey and even Charlotte to stand 28th! Yay! But,<br>really, they’re still bad at the rim. Roy Hibbert (.557), David West (.560),<br>and Darren Collison (.531) 40% of Indy’s shots here, and their collective<br>.551 is worse than any team in the league. Paul George remains strong at<br>the rim - shooting .638 on the second most attempts on the team (163) –<br>and he’s joined by Tyler Hansbrough (.633) as the only Pacers hitting better<br>than the league average .627.

At .362, Indy has creeped out of the bottom five, but they’re still well<br>short of the .379 league average. David West is back to .470, matching<br>last year’s sterling percentage. Darren Collison is up to .420, as that little<br>pull up has become a reliable weapon.

Tyler Hansbrough is still at .340, which I still believe is killing his offensive<br>game. Last season...CONTINUE READING AT 8p9s

Clutch squared: Westbrook and Durant are figuring it out<br><br>Ever since “The Altercation,” things have really cooled on the “Russell<br>Westbrook and Kevin Durant can’t co-exist front.” Mainly because the<br>Thunder have risen to the best team in the West while Westbrook and<br>Durant have looked equally spectacular.

They’re the top scoring duo in the league averaging a combined 51.9<br>points per game. They’ve both scored 40-plus in a game together twice<br>this season, something no other duo in NBA history has done. Since<br>the start of 2010-11 season Durant and Westbrook have each scored<br>20-plus points in a game 70 times, most in NBA. I could go on, but I<br>think you get it. Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook are very good.

And yet, there’s this perception. I say “this perception” because I’m<br>not even sure if I know what it is anymore. Some think Westbrook is<br>a ball-hog. Some think Durant and Westbrook hate each other. Some<br>think Westbrook and Durant are locked in a battle for alpha dog<br>supremacy. Some get locked into rudimentary statlines that explain<br>nothing about the way Durant and Westbrook play together. Some<br>just think they don’t play basketball very well together.

But those that have watched the Thunder play this season, they’ve<br>seen an interesting dynamic. Westbrook and Durant appear to be<br>getting along very well on the basketball court. Oklahoma City’s<br>record (37-12) should say enough, but the question is if Westbrook<br>and Durant can, or will, succeed in the postseason. The spotlight will<br>be on and every fourth quarter jumper that Westbrook takes will be<br>criticized, analyzed and scrutinized.

I’m trying to get out in front of that with this. So let’s start with this<br>stat: In terms of “clutch” scoring, which is defined as the final five<br>minutes (and overtime) of a game with a margin of five or less,<br>Durant leads the league with 126 points. Joe Johnson and Chris Paul<br>are second with 109. Westbrook is fourth with 102. Kobe is fifth is<br>100. Consider this too though: Durant is shooting 41.1 percent in the<br>clutch, Westbrook 49.3 percent. (Kobe? He’s at 31.3 percent. Just<br>wanted to toss that out there.)

The Thunder, who have played a good number of close games, have<br>scored 277 points as a team in the clutch. Durant and Westbrook have<br>combined for 228 of them. The Thunder have been one of the best<br>teams at closing close games, and that’s been largely due to the<br>success of Westbrook and Durant operating in those moments. They<br>finished one and two in clutch scoring last season (Westbrook 199<br>points on 39.1 shooting, Durant 194 on 40.6), but this year, it’s a<br>much more cohesive, natural attack.

this is a defensive nightmare. we should put PG on westbrook, and collison on sefolosha. otherwise, westbrook would destroy us.

04-06-2012, 01:43 PM

TOP

Re: 4/6/2012 Game Thread #55: Pacers Vs. Thunder

Copied and pasted from another thread...

Quote:

Just looked at the box score from the last time the Pacers and Thunder played, not pretty.

Glad we'll have West, Hill, Barbosa and PG(starting) this time around. Last time we were starting McRoberts and Rush.

Don't like the Collison/Westbrook match up. 6'0 160 vs. 6'3 187

My opinion on the game.

We've got this though ;)

04-06-2012, 01:45 PM

Dgreenwell3

Re: 4/6/2012 Game Thread #55: Pacers Vs. Thunder

I agree with PG drawing the Westbrook assignment. Not a slight at collison there are probably only3-4 PGs who can actually guard westbrook.

04-06-2012, 01:45 PM

TOP

Re: 4/6/2012 Game Thread #55: Pacers Vs. Thunder

Quote:

Originally Posted by adamscb

this is a defensive nightmare. we should put PG on westbrook, and collison on sefolosha. otherwise, westbrook would destroy us.

That might be even worse. Sefolosha should bury jumpers and three's all day if Collison guards him. It's bad that Westbrook has 3 inches on Collison, it would be worse if he's guarding a guy that has 7 inches on him. Might as well not even guard him because he would have no chance of impacting Sefolosha's shots. At least Collison will have defenders backing him up when Westbrook drives. Nobody would be able to help him as Sefolosha shoots over him with ease.

04-06-2012, 01:47 PM

adamscb

Re: 4/6/2012 Game Thread #55: Pacers Vs. Thunder

Quote:

Originally Posted by TOP

That might be even worse. Sefolosha should bury jumpers and three's all day if Collison guards him. It's bad that Westbrook has 3 inches on Westbrook, it would be worse if he's guarding a guy that has 7 inches on him. Might as well not even guard him because he would have no chance of impacting Sefolosha's shots. At least Collison will have defenders backing him up when Westbrook drives. Nobody would be able to help him as Sefolosha shoots over him with ease.

i think this is a case of pick your poison. i would much rather have sefolosha take jump shots than have westbrook driving to the lane at will.

04-06-2012, 01:47 PM

TOP

Re: 4/6/2012 Game Thread #55: Pacers Vs. Thunder

Quote:

Originally Posted by Dgreenwell3

I agree with PG drawing the Westbrook assignment. Not a slight at collison there are probably only3-4 PGs who can actually guard westbrook.

Collison would have to be benched then imo. If Collison guards Sefolosha, I'd forfeit.

Harden also plays a lot of minutes. Then what? Collison is better off on Westbrook than Harden or Sefolosha imo.

04-06-2012, 01:49 PM

TOP

Re: 4/6/2012 Game Thread #55: Pacers Vs. Thunder

Quote:

Originally Posted by adamscb

i think this is a case of pick your poison. i would much rather have sefolosha take jump shots than have westbrook driving to the lane at will.

Sefolosha is shooting 46.8% from 3 on the season. That's against guys that are a lot closer to 6'7 than 6'0. I think he'd have a career game taking jump shots if Collison is on him.

04-06-2012, 01:53 PM

Trader Joe

Re: 4/6/2012 Game Thread #55: Pacers Vs. Thunder

Hill will play a lot of minutes tonight. Probably one of those games where we close with

Hill, George, Granger, West, Hibbert

04-06-2012, 01:54 PM

adamscb

Re: 4/6/2012 Game Thread #55: Pacers Vs. Thunder

Quote:

Originally Posted by TOP

Sefolosha is shooting 46.8% from 3 on the season. That's against guys that are a lot closer to 6'7 than 6'0. I think he'd have a career game taking jump shots if Collison is on him.

i think sefolosha will get open jumpers either way, when westbrook drives by collison and kicks it out to sefolosha, or if collison himself is guarding thabo. not a knock against DC, like an earlier poster said, westbrook's first step is practically unstoppable. i think that collison can do a decent job against him, yes there's a huge height difference, but collison can use his quickness to his advantage.

04-06-2012, 01:56 PM

Trader Joe

Re: 4/6/2012 Game Thread #55: Pacers Vs. Thunder

I had no idea the Thunder were the only team in the NBA worse at passing than us. I guess it kind of makes sense though

04-06-2012, 01:57 PM

Trader Joe

Re: 4/6/2012 Game Thread #55: Pacers Vs. Thunder

Guys, Sefolosha averages 5 PPG. I doubt we're that concerned about guarding him. Putting DC on him is a perfectly acceptable solution. The more difficult matchup is the Westbrook/Harden back court.

04-06-2012, 01:58 PM

Trader Joe

Re: 4/6/2012 Game Thread #55: Pacers Vs. Thunder

Quote:

Originally Posted by TOP

Sefolosha is shooting 46.8% from 3 on the season. That's against guys that are a lot closer to 6'7 than 6'0. I think he'd have a career game taking jump shots if Collison is on him.

Are we talking about the same Thabo Sefolosha who only attempts 1.5 3PG? He's under a strict only shoot if you're open policy. I suppose he could have a career game, but in Thabo's case that is something like actually cracking double digits for once.

04-06-2012, 02:00 PM

Dgreenwell3

Re: 4/6/2012 Game Thread #55: Pacers Vs. Thunder

Guys, Thabo is strictly in there because they want to keep Harden as the off the bench super scorer. That's it. He's a defender, that's basically it.

04-06-2012, 02:06 PM

adamscb

Re: 4/6/2012 Game Thread #55: Pacers Vs. Thunder

the next issue is how to guard harden. dahntay should be able to slow him down. hill should have no problem with fisher. the only matchup that has me worried is durant. granger can't get frustrated trying to guard the league's 2nd leading scorer, he's gonna get his points no matter what

04-06-2012, 02:08 PM

aamcguy

Re: 4/6/2012 Game Thread #55: Pacers Vs. Thunder

Quote:

Originally Posted by TOP

That might be even worse. Sefolosha should bury jumpers and three's all day if Collison guards him. It's bad that Westbrook has 3 inches on Collison, it would be worse if he's guarding a guy that has 7 inches on him. Might as well not even guard him because he would have no chance of impacting Sefolosha's shots. At least Collison will have defenders backing him up when Westbrook drives. Nobody would be able to help him as Sefolosha shoots over him with ease.

Sefolosha isn't exactly a world class jump shooter. He does shoot 47%, but those are basically wide open corner 3's. (Think Dahntay Jones). He has also only taken 47 3's in 30 game.

He shoots 2 pointers at a 41% rate and only scores 5 points per game. I'm thinking his 3pt success this season is partially due to sample size...he has a good rhythm going and he's shooting wide open. Against Chicago, Collison proved he was capable of chasing Korver around and not giving him enough room to set up for a jumper. And Korver is a far superior shooter :)

Sefolosha is out there so they have a defensive player who won't take shots away from Westbrook and Durant.

04-06-2012, 02:12 PM

Dgreenwell3

Re: 4/6/2012 Game Thread #55: Pacers Vs. Thunder

Quote:

Originally Posted by adamscb

the next issue is how to guard harden. dahntay should be able to slow him down. hill should have no problem with fisher. the only matchup that has me worried is durant. granger can't get frustrated trying to guard the league's 2nd leading scorer, he's gonna get his points no matter what

He does better with guys like KD than he does with Uber athletic freaks like Lebron and Iggy.

04-06-2012, 02:42 PM

TMJ31

Re: 4/6/2012 Game Thread #55: Pacers Vs. Thunder

The Thunder scare me. Westbrook has simply owned us and Kevin Durant is just something else.

But you know what? I trust in our guys to come out guns blazing and get a win tonight. It won't be easy, and it probably won't be pretty. But I think we'll find a way to win.

04-06-2012, 02:43 PM

adamscb

Re: 4/6/2012 Game Thread #55: Pacers Vs. Thunder

Quote:

Originally Posted by Dgreenwell3

He does better with guys like KD than he does with Uber athletic freaks like Lebron and Iggy.

very true. i just hope if durant drops 30, granger wont get frustrated and let it affect his offensive game.

04-06-2012, 02:59 PM

graphic-er

Re: 4/6/2012 Game Thread #55: Pacers Vs. Thunder

The key to this game will be George Hill, will he be able to check Westbrook and keep out of foul trouble so that PG can utilize his length against Durant. Granger will check Harden, I have no doubts in his ability to do that.

But if Hill can't check Westbrook then we'll have to rotate PG over, then put Danny on Durant. Not sure if Hill can guard Harden.

04-06-2012, 03:06 PM

aamcguy

Re: 4/6/2012 Game Thread #55: Pacers Vs. Thunder

Anybody who can guard Westbrook can guard Harden, imo. Harden is a better jump shooter, but not as fast as WestBrook. And he's only 6'5", not a huge jump for George Hill. And if he can't guard either well, he's still our best defending point haha.

If Collison isn't playing well offensively, I hope Vogel isn't shy about going with Hill for his defense though.

04-06-2012, 03:17 PM

Nuntius

Re: 4/6/2012 Game Thread #55: Pacers Vs. Thunder

Quote:

Originally Posted by Dgreenwell3

Guys, Thabo is strictly in there because they want to keep Harden as the off the bench super scorer. That's it. He's a defender, that's basically it.

Exactly.

On the "who to guard" argument. There are not a lot of people that can guard Westbrook. Actually, the one player that can shut down Westbrook completely is himself. Just let him get angry and make stupid decisions. He is not a good decision maker.

Regarding the game now. I just hope that we can compete. The Thunder have one of the best defensive frontcourts (if not the best) and I really hope that Roy has a good game against them.

If Roy has a good game and we compete until the end I'd be happy.

04-06-2012, 03:30 PM

TOP

Re: 4/6/2012 Game Thread #55: Pacers Vs. Thunder

Quote:

Originally Posted by aamcguy

Sefolosha isn't exactly a world class jump shooter. He does shoot 47%, but those are basically wide open corner 3's. (Think Dahntay Jones). He has also only taken 47 3's in 30 game.

He shoots 2 pointers at a 41% rate and only scores 5 points per game. I'm thinking his 3pt success this season is partially due to sample size...he has a good rhythm going and he's shooting wide open. Against Chicago, Collison proved he was capable of chasing Korver around and not giving him enough room to set up for a jumper. And Korver is a far superior shooter :)

Sefolosha is out there so they have a defensive player who won't take shots away from Westbrook and Durant.

He's out there if a team decides to put a 6'10 defender on Westbrook and a 6'0 defender on him. If the team throws everything at Westbrook and Durant in an obvious move like putting Collison on Sefolosha, he'll knock down 3 after 3 after 3. Some might view it as being one step ahead, I view it as throwing in the towel. You don't put a 6'0 defender on a 6'7 shooting guard imo. If they feel it's worth putting George on Wesbrook, bench Collison. Start Hill or Barbosa. They're still undersized at 6'3 but a 6'0 guy isn't going to bother Sefolosha. He doesn't even have to be wide open, all of his looks will be open. There will be no hand coming at his face to make him flinch. It will be clean look after clean look. Jmo but Collison on Thabo is a bad idea.

Fortunately, I doubt it will be an issue. I don't think the coaching staff will put Collison on Sefolosha. Guess we'll see but doesn't sound like a good idea to give up 7 inches and 55lbs to a spot up shooter who can shoot over Collison anytime he chooses. Those passes to the corner are going to be even more open. Collison has no length to defend it.

04-06-2012, 03:43 PM

Peck

Re: 4/6/2012 Game Thread #55: Pacers Vs. Thunder

A big key to tonight's game is for Roy and most importantly Dan Burke to understand that Perkins is absolutely zero threat to shoot a jump shot. So for the love of God do NOT switch and have Roy try and guard Westbrook.

I'd just as soon back off the pick and let Perkins have open 18' jump shots all day than to have Westbrook look like Sonic the Hedgehog gathering coins going to the bucket with Roy in tow.

Heck I'd even rather have Westbrook have open 18' shoots than the misery that will ensue if Westbrook can just get to the lane time after time.

04-06-2012, 03:44 PM

90'sNBARocked

Re: 4/6/2012 Game Thread #55: Pacers Vs. Thunder

Cant wait. I really hope its competitive, not a blowout by the Thunder